This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-179721, filed Jun. 15, 2000, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coin pay-out device that is a component of a coin mechanism in a vending machine or the like, more particularly, to an improved version of a coin pay-out device that pays out change, which is such large coins as the 500-yen coin.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Each vending machine incorporates a coin mechanism that processes coins loaded therein. Such a vending machine is provided with some components such as a coin discriminating unit that discriminates between true and false coins, as well as between coin types; a coin storage having some coin tubes that hold coins decided as true ones for each coin type; and a coin pay-out device that pays out coins from those tubes as change.
Among those components of a vending machine, various types have been proposed for the coin pay-out device; one of them is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.11-161825.
The coin pay-out device disclosed in the JP-A-11-161825 is provided with a pay-out slide that puts the bottom coin in each coin tube into the coin holding hole and a plurality of first change slides facing a coin holding hole of the pay-out slide respectively. A pay-out link connected to a driving power source drives both of the pay-out slide and each first change slide so that they make bi-directional movements. The pay-out slide is disposed on a base, so that each coin holding hole is closed by the top surface of the base when the pay-out slide stands by, thereby the bottom coin is not paid out. When a coin is to be paid out, both of the pay-out slide and each change slide go back so that each coin holding hole goes onto the corresponding pay-out hole, thereby coin(s) are paid out from the coin pay-out hole.
On the other hand, the coin pay-out device is provided with a plurality of stopper mechanisms (solenoids), each of which disables the bi-directional movement of the corresponding first change slide selectively. Each solenoid is turned on/off so as to cross a stopper pin onto the movement line of a first change slide, thereby disabling the backward movement of the first change slide.
Consequently, in the case where each first change slide is disabled in movement as described above, the first change slide does not move even when the pay-out slide goes back, thereby each coin holding hole goes onto the corresponding first change slide. This is why each coin holding hole is closed by the corresponding first change slide, so that no coin is paid out from the coin pay-out hole.
As described above, when a coin is to be paid out, it is just required to reset the movement of only the first change slide corresponding to the selected money type. Consequently, only the selected coin(s) can be paid out as the change.
It is true that the first change slide as described above is structured so as to dispense coins effectively only in such coins as 10-yen, 50-yen, and 100-yen, sizes of which are almost same. For very large diameter coins such as the 500-yen coin when compared with other coins, however, the coin holding hole becomes large in accordance with the diameter. A change slide disposed at the rear side of a coin holding hole must also be disposed more closely towards the rear side than other coin change slides. As a result, the front-rear width of the coin pay-out device is increased, suffering from an increase of the coin pay-out device in whole size.
In order to solve the problem, the coin pay-out device disclosed in the JP-A-11-161825 employs a second change slide, structured differently from that of the first change slide, as a pay-out member of the 500-yen coin.
This second change slide is structured to have a slide body formed like a rectangular plate, and a cam shaft being protruded from the rear end of the top surface of this slide body. On the other hand, an elastic rotary shaft is protruded downward from around the center of the back surface of the slide body. The pay-out link is provided with a bearing hole that fixes this rotary shaft rotationally and a guide groove that fits the rotary shaft therein removably. In addition, an arcuate cam groove is formed in an upper cover that covers the top surface of the pay-out link so as to guide the cam shaft transversely.
In the case of this second change slide, the cam shaft thereof moves transversely in the cam groove of the second change slide when the pay-out link goes back and the movement of this cam shaft makes the second change slide rotate transversely around the rotary shaft. Consequently, the second change slide is moved so as to open the coin pay-out hole, thereby the bottom 500-yen coin is paid out from the coin pay-out hole.
On the other hand, when the cam shaft of the second change slide is disabled in movement by the stopper pin of the solenoid, the pay-out link goes back, thereby the rotary shaft is guided by the guide groove of the pay-out link so as to be removed from the pay-out link. The second change slide thus stands by on the coin pay-out hole. Consequently, the coin pay-out hole that has moved back is closed by the second change slide, so that the 500-yen coin in the coin holding hole is held by the second change slide. Thus, no coin is paid out from the pay-out hole.
The structure of the conventional coin pay-out device as described above that rotates the second change slide so as to dispense a 500-yen coin prevents the coin pay-out device from increasing in its front-rear width.
In this second change slide, however, the solenoid that disables the movement of the second change slide disables the movement of the cam shaft at the rear end of the second change slide, so that this solenoid is disposed more backward than the solenoid that disables the movement of the first change slide, causing the size of the coin pay-out device to be increased.
Further, a solenoid is disposed at the rear of each change slide extended in the front-rear direction, so that the solenoids are disposed unavoidably along all the entire change slides disposed side by side transversely. As a result, the disposition space of all the solenoids is increased unnecessarily, thereby the space efficiency of those solenoids is lowered.
In addition, the rotary shaft of the second change slide is fixed when a coin is paid out. When no coin is paid out, the rotary shaft is movable. Consequently, a bearing hole and a guide groove must be formed at the pay-out link respectively so as to fix the rotary shaft when it functions as a fixed shaft and guide the rotary shaft when it functions as a movable shaft. In addition, a cam groove that guides the cam shaft must be formed at the upper cover. Thus, the structure of the second change slide becomes very complicated.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a compact coin pay-out device that employs a simply-structured second change slide so as to improve the space efficiency of the stopper mechanism.
A present invention provides a coin pay-out device comprising a pay-out link being connected to a driving power source and enabled to make a back and forth bi-directional movement; a pay-out slide that puts the bottom coin in each coin tube into the corresponding coin holding hole and makes a back and forth bi-directional movement by following the bi-directional movement of the pay-out link; a plurality of first change slides disposed side by side transversely, each of the first change slides being enabled to make a bi-directional movement by following the bi-directional movement of the pay-out link; a second change slide adjacent to each of the first change slides and enabled to rotate back and forth by following the bi-directional movement of the pay-out link; and a plurality of stopper mechanisms, each of which being disposed at the side of a first change slide so as to disable both bi-directional movement and rotation of the change slide selectively. When no coin is to be paid out, each stopper mechanism is set so as to advance the change slide under the corresponding coin holding hole, thereby disabling the coin pay-out. When a coin is to be paid out, each stopper mechanism is reset so as to make the corresponding change slide retreat from under the coin holding hole, thereby the coin is paid out. The second change slide is provided with a rotary arm extended towards a space between adjacent first change slides and enabled to go back and forth under the bottom surface of the coin holding hole. At the tip side of the rotary arm is provided a movable supporting member to be fit removably in a guide groove of the pay-out link. At the rear end side of the rotary side is provided a stopper whose rotation is disabled by a stopper mechanism. And, a fixed supporting member is provided between the movable supporting member and the stopper of the rotary arm.
According to the present invention, therefore, when a coin is paid out by the second change slide, the stopper of the rotary arm resets the stopper mechanism so as to enable the rotation. Then, the pay-out link is moved back. Consequently, the coin holding hole goes back and comes onto the top surface of the coin pay-out hole. On the other hand, when this pay-out link goes back, the movable supporting member moves along the guide groove, thereby the rotary arm rotates around the fixed shaft.
Due to the rotation of this rotary arm, the tip of the rotary arm rotates to the rear side. Thus, the tip of the rotary arm is kept separated from the coin holding hole, thereby the coin holding hole is not closed. Coins are thus paid out from the pay-out hole.
On the other hand, when no coin is paid out by the second change slide, each stopper mechanism disables the rotation of the corresponding stopper of the rotary arm. When the pay-out link goes back so as to dispense another coin, the coin holding hole of the pay-out slide goes back onto the top surface of the coin pay-out hole. On the other hand, the rotation of the second change slide is disabled, so that the movable supporting member of the rotary arm is disengaged from the guide groove due to the backward movement of the pay-out link. The second change slide is thus extended so as to keep standing by on the top surface of the coin pay-out hole. Consequently, the coin holding hole that has moved to the coin pay-out hole is closed by the second change slide. Coins in the coin holding hole are thus held by the second change slide and no coin is paid out in this state.
In this case, the fixed supporting member may be disposed outside the pay-out link. The movable supporting member may have an elastic projection and this projection may be fit in the guide groove of the pay-out link.
According to the present invention, it is possible to dispose each stopper mechanism of the second change slide so as to be ganged with the stopper mechanism of each first change slide. Thus, the disposition space of each stopper mechanism can be reduced more in the transverse direction, as well as in the front-rear direction, thereby the whole size of the coin pay-out device can be reduced more.
Furthermore, there is no need to form a plurality of guide grooves that are required for the conventional coin pay-out devices. Therefore, the second change slide is more simplified in structure.
The above described objects, other objects, features, and benefits of the present invention will be apparent by the following description and attached drawings.